Reading Critically

What is Critical Reading?

Being an active reader

  • Talk "to" the text

    • Respond: "Huh?" "Wow!" "I don't think so."

    • Asking questions while you read

      • What do you mean by that phrase?

      • Can you support that statement?

      • How do you define that term?

      • about yourself

    • about the context

    • about broader implications

Why Read Critically?

  • Questioning what others have said: Healthy skepticism

  • Provides process of discovery

  • Sharpens focus on an issue

  • Heightens ability to construct and evaluate arguments, your own and those of others

  • Helps you become a critical writer

  • Develops critical thinking skills

  • Questioning and analyzing allows the reader to become more knowledgeable

How to Read Critically: SQ3R

Before you read

  • Consider Your Own Experience: What do I know already? What have I read or heard recently? What attitudes or opinions do I have already about this topic

To get an overview

  • Preview: Who is the writer? Where was it originally published? When was it published? What does the title reveal?

  • Skim the reading: Try to discover the topic and the claim. Read 1st and last paragraphs

As you read

  • Annotate the Reading: A way to create active dialogue with the writer

    • Ask questions

    • Challenge assumptions

    • Note logical fallacies, distortions, exaggerations, insights, allusions, references

    • Argue with the reading (42)

        • Ask questions

        • Challenge assumptions

      • Create a Debate and Dialogue

        • Use multiple perspectives to learn about the topics

        • Compare and contrast the readings

After you read

Summarize the reading: Short and does not include supporting details/examples;

    • written in your own words

    • The main idea: What the passage is about

    • Objective: "Telling back" what the author has said

    • Accurate: Would the author recognize the idea

    • Thorough: Include the main point

Argue with the reading (42)

Ask questions

Challenge assumptions

Create a Debate and Dialogue

Argue with the reading (42)

Ask questions

Challenge assumptions

Create a Debate and Dialogue

Analyze and Evaluate the reading: Ask questions:

    • Main assumptions: What does the text suggest everyone agrees on?

    • Audience: Who is the intended audience? Why?

    • Evidence: Is the evidence adequate, relevant, reliable?

    • Purpose: What is the purpose: to inform or to persuade

    • Persuasive: If persuasive, consider:

      • Convincing: Is the evidence adequate, relevant, reliable?

      • Logical: Are there logical fallacies?

      • Address the 0pposition by summarizing accurately and objectively then responding appropriately?

Use multiple perspectives to learn about the topics

Compare and contrast the readings

Deliberate About the Readings

Consider the information

Respond to find your own position

Decide

Come to YOUR own conclusion based on what you have studied

Groshgarian, Gary, Kathleen Krueger, and Janet Barnett Mine. "Reading Arguments: Thinking Like a Critic," Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader. Boston: Longman, 2003. Print.

Wheeler, L. Kip. "Critical Reading of an Essay's Argument." 2012. Dr. Wheeler's Website. Web. 20 Aug. 2010.